Boat construction



June 26, 1945. G. F. HUGHES 2,379,235

BOAT 4CONSTRUTION Filed OC. 23, 1943 gmc/whom GEORGE F- HUGHES Patented June 26,l 1945 UNITE D STATES PAT EN T F FICE BOAT CONSTRUCTION George F. Hughes, Trumbull County, Ohio Application October 23, 1943, Serial No. 507,408

(Cl. 1l5-19) 3 Claims.

This invention relates to aquatic vehicles and more particularly to improved arrangements for supporting and driving such vehicles. In accordance with the invention the loadl supporting frame or body of the vehicle, whether for passengers or freight, is supported above the water level on two or more buoyant tubular members which are spirally nned and which are rotatable about their principal longitudinal axes.

The primary object of the invention is the provision of a boat construction having the general character outlined above which oiers a minimum of resistance to forward or rearward passage through the water whereby a maximum speed of travel in either a forward or a rearward direction may be attained,

A further object of the invention is the pro- A the detection of the presence of the boat is sub-l stantially more difcult.

Another object of the invention is the provision in an aquatic vehicle of the buoyant propeller type of improved arrangements for supporting the load bearing frame or body of the vehicle on the rotatable buoying and propelling ,members of the assembly and yet another object ofthe invention is the provision of an improved arrangement for driving such members from a power device carried in or on said frame or body.

The above and other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent upon consideration of the following detailed specification and the accompanying drawing wherein there is specifically disclosed a preferred embodiment of the invention.

In the drawing:

Figure l is a side elevation of a boat `constructed in accordance with the principles of the invention; 4

Figure 2 is a front end elevation of the vehicle of Figure 1; and

Figure 3 is a transverse section through the vehicle of Figure l, the view being taken along the line III- III of saidgure.

Referring to the drawing, reference numeral I0 indicates generally a rigid frame on which is mounted the motor, controls, passenger carrying body and/or a cargo carrying platform or bodj7 as will be understood. A passenger carrying body, indicated by reference numeral I I, is shown in the drawing and, in accordance with usual practice, this body will contain seats I2 and control apparatus 43.

Depending from opposite sides-of the frame- I0 and rigidly secured thereto are the supports gitudinally extending shafts I8 which, as shown' in Figure l, extend both forwardly and rearwardly of the housing Il. The rear ends of the shafts I8 are `iournaled in encased bearings I9 which are carried by the lower ends of supports Zil depending downwardly from and rigidly secured to the rear portion of the frame or platform Il The front ends of the shafts I8 are journaled in encased bearings ZI which are carried by the lower ends of supports 22 depending from and rigidly connected to the front end of the frame or plat form I0.` Mounted on the shafts I3 intermediate the housing I'I and the end bearings IS and ZI are the cylindrical hollow sealed buoyant tubular members 23 and 24, respectively, which are tapered at their outer ends as shown. The mem-` bers 23 and 24 are tank-like structures preferably constructed of sheet metal formed over suitable frameworks and, if desired, the cylindrical tanks thus provided may be made leak-proof by lining the interior surfaces thereof with self -sealing material as is well understood in the art. Encircling the outer surfaces of the members 2,3 and 24 and secured thereto in spirally wound fashion are the radially outward directed fins 25. The outside diw ameters of the housing Il is identical with the outside diameters of the buoyant members 23 and 24 and the inner endsA of these latter members are positioned closely adjacent the front and back ends of the housings. In this manner the mem-`y bers 23, 26 and housing I 'I on each sideof the boat structure forms a substantially uninterrupted cylindrical assembly offering a minimum of resistance to the longitudinal movement of the assembly over the surface of the waterwhile enabling such assembly to be of considerable length thereby enabling large buoying forces to beeffected. The helices formed by the ns 25 on each ofthe pairs of members 23, 24 on either side of the boat structure are interrupted only by the housing. Il, this being possible because the members `23 and. 24 are both rigidly fixed to the same shaft I 8. c

To lend strength and rigidity to the structure a transversely extending and downwardly inclined frame member M is provided for each of the depending supports 2G and 22 and. as shown, the frame members 44 are connected at their uoper ends to the principal frame Il! and at their lower ends to the lower portions of the depending supports 2B and 22. Similarly, to brace the depending supports 2!! and 22 longitudinally I provide the longitudinally extending and downwardly inclined frame members 45 the upper ends of which are connected to the frame lll while the lower ends of which are rigidly connected to the lower portions of the supports and 22.

Shafts I8 and consequently the buoyant members 23 and 24 are arranged to be driven by a motor 2B supported centrally on the frame or platform I0. Motor 2E is provided with a clutch 21, a reverse gear 28, and a drive shaft 29 which mounts at its outer end a bevel gear 30 housed within a casing 3l (Figure 3). Journaled in and extending through adjacent side walls of the casing 3l and the boxes I5 and I6 are the shafts 32 and 33', respectively. Keyed to the upper end of the shafts 32 and 33 are the bevel gears'34 and 35 which are in mesh with the gear 30 and keyed to the lower ends of the shafts 32 and 33 are the worms 36 and 31 which mesh with worm gears 38 and 39 keyed on the respective shafts I8. Thus upon rotation of drive shaft 29 the shafts I8 and consequently the buoyant members carrying the screws 25 will be rotated so as to cause the action of the screws 25 to propel the boat in a forward or reverse direction depending on the direction of rotation of the shaft 29. The various gears employed are so constructed that the two driving units, on opposite sides of the craft, are caused to rotate in opposite directions so as to eliminate any tendency of the craft to drift sideways during forward or backward movement. The direction of the screws 25 on the two side units is such that both units will propel in the same direction even though the units rotate in different directions.

A semi-cylindrical shield 42 with tapering ends is positioned over each of the cylindrical driving units 23, 24 and, in practice, these shields may be readily attached to and carried by the undersurfaces of the frame l0 and the inclined frame members 45.

I provide suitable means to steer the craft described above and this may comprise a water rudder adapted to be lowered into the water and/or a rudder 4| positioned in the air stream and adapted to react to forces exerted by said stream, all being controlled by suitable means, not shown.

It should now be apparent that I have provided an improved water craft which accomplishes the objects initially set out. I have found, by actual tests, that a craft constructed according to the principles of the invention is capable of substanl' tial speed and leaves very little or no water disturbance or wake along its path traversed. This is made possible by the tapering of the cylindrical buoyant members and by the continuity of the longitudinally extending surfaces of these 'i members. A simplified and wholly efficient method of rotating the screws of the craft results from the above described driving arrangement and a further advantage of the same is that the tubular may be made of substantial length, having journaling connections with the rigid fixed frame of buoyant members on opposite sides of the craft the craft at points spaced intermediate the ends of the members, thereby lending flexibility in the design of the craft and enabling the craft to be made in large sizes. extending but transversely spaced buoylng and driving units enables the weight of thc motor and load supporting parts of the assembly to be accurately centralized over the points of buoyancy thus lending stability in the use of the apparatus.

The above specifically described embodiment-of the invention should be considered as illustrative The use of the longitudinally only as obviously many changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. Reference should therefore be had to the appended claims in determining the scope of the invention.

What I claim is:

1. A boat construction comprising in combination an elongated horizontally disposed frame, a

pair of transversely spaced journal supports se-` cured to and depending downwardly from each end of said frame, transversely extending and downwardly inclined frame members interconnecting the lower portions of said supports with said horizontally disposed frame, longitudinally extending and downwardly inclined frame members interconnecting the lower portions of said supports with said horizontally disposed frame. transversely spaced shafts having their ends journaled in the lower end portions of said supports, a pair of transversely spaced cylindrical housings secured to and depending downwardly from said horizontal frame intermediate the ends thereof, said housings rotatably supporting the center portions of said shafts, bouyant tubular members fixed concentrically on said shafts intermediate said journal supports and said housings and having continuous ns spiraled about and secured to the outer surface thereof, said buoyant members and said fins being tapered at their ends adjacent said journal supports thus providing clearance for said longitudinally extending frame members, power means carried by said horizontal frame, and driving means including gearing housed within said housings for interconnecting said power means and said shafts for rotating the latter.

2. l'n a boat construction the combination of a longitudinally extending frame, a pair of transversely spaced cylindrical housings secured to and depending from said frame, the longitudinal axis `of said housings being parallel with respect t0 each other and with respect to the general longitudinal axis of said frame, a shaft journaled in each of said housings for rotation about the longitudinal axis of said housings, said shafts projecting both forwardly and rearwardly of said housings, a pair of transversely spaced journal supports secured to and depending downwardly from each end of said frame, transversely extending and downwardly inclined frame members interconnecting the lower portions of said supports with said frame, longitudinally extending and downwardly inclined frame members interconnecting the lower portions of said supports with said frame, journaling means in the-lower ends of said supports to receive the projecting ends of said shafts, buoyant tubular members rigidly secured to said shafts intermediate said housings and said journaling means, a radially outward projecting iin spiraling about the outer surface of each of said tubular members and being secured thereto, a motor supported on said frame, and a driving connecticnbetween said motor and said shafts to rotate said shafts.

3. Apparatus according to claim 2 further char-- acterized in that said driving connection ccmprises worm gears attached to said shafts within said housings, shafts extending upwardly and inwardly from said housings and carrying at thcr lower ends driving worms which are meshed with said worm gears, and driving means interconnecting said motor and said last mentioned shafts.

GEORGE F. I,HUGHES 

